The Mississippi River Regional Planning Commission (MRRPC) Multimodal Freight Strategy is designed to support
the analysis and development of a freight system strategy for the nine-county MRRPC region in Western Wisconsin.
The region borders Minnesota and is at the confluence of major freight infrastructure in the Upper Midwest while
also being within a day or less drive of all the most populated places in the Great Lakes Megaregion, including
Minneapolis-St Paul, Chicago, Milwaukee, St Louis, and Indianapolis. The Region is also along major highway and
railroad corridors linking East and West markets in the US; as well as the Mississippi River, linking the Midwest to
Gulf Coast barge destinations. The purpose of this strategy is to transcend traditional planning boundaries and
provide a strategy for rural areas represented by the MRRPC – including portions of two separate WisDOT districts
(Southwest and Northwest) and three separate WEDC Regions (1, 9, and 10).
Project Approach:
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Develop background information on demographics, economics, and transportation
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Characterize the importance of freight movement in the region
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Conduct outreach to business and system users
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Provide an analysis and summary of goods movement
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Create growth projections for major freight commodities
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Identify community and environmental impacts of freight transportation
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Create opportunities and strategies based on data findings
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Create content to be used for comprehensive planning
Opportunities to Contribute:
The project team has produced an interactive wikimap and brief survey for anyone involved in goods movement for the region:
Updates: